everything about that scene just touched me to my very core. how isak walked out of that church, running to even. the hymn playing in the background. the soft rain. even seeing isak, knowing that he came back for him. the way their faces just circled around each other. their cheeks gently touching. the “you’re not alone”. and then them finally kissing and embracing each other……

hei! firstly I love you so much and appreciate for everything you've done for us, non-norwegians ♥ thank you so much ♥ and secondly is there any chance that you can translate the hymn?? because it was so intense and isak realizes everything with that hymn-sort of- i am wondering what the lyrics mean, you know :) thank youu :D♥

I see all this stuff about how young people want Latin mass and veils and traditional hymns, but I feel like that’s just a very vocal minority on the Catholic Internet? Furthermore, it’s a minority that attends mass regularly and is already pretty solid in their faith. The teens and young adults I’ve known do not want that? From what I’ve seen, they find it a. boring, and b. alienating. Now I’m not saying we should turn Mass into a rock concert, but the majority of “casual Catholics”, young ones especially, *would* rather hear a guitar than an organ. We have to acknowledge that.

The lyrics to that one are lifted directly from an old hymn of ours, actually. It brings me back to when I was a child, rushing through my chores to attend Mass, the scent of incense hanging heavy in the air, black candles burning within their sconces. Our leader at the time, Mother Insignis IV, always delivered the most lyrical sermons. I wished so much to hear her voice sing me to sleep.

I used to look up towards the light streaming through the stained glass, as the sounds of the choral voices filled my ears. During moments like this, I truly felt Lucifer’s love for me, and everyone else in attendance.

Carrie & Lowell sounds like memory: it spans decades yet does not trade on pastiche or nostalgia. Stevens’s gauzy double-tracked vocals wash across the dashboard of long-finned, drop-top Americana, yet as we race towards the coast we are reminded that sunshine leads to shadow, for this is a landscape of terminal roads, unsteady bridges, traumatic video stores, and unhappy beds that provide the scenery for tales of jackknifed cars, funerals, and forgiveness for the dead. Each track in this collection of eleven songs begins with a fragile melody that gathers steam until it becomes nothing less than a modern hymn. Sufjan recounts the indignities of our world, of technological distraction and sad sex, of an age without neither myths nor miracle and this time around, his voice carries the burden of wisdom. Carrie & Lowell accomplishes the rare thing that any art should achieve, particularly in these noisy and fragmented days: By seeking to understand, Sufjan makes us feel less alone.

So Coldplay’s new video for “Hymn for the Weekend” is set in Mumbai and it features a wonderfully vibrant city full of color, laughter and happiness on the day of Holi (the festival of colors). Beyonce wears Indian-inspired clothing designed by an Indian who wanted to depict India in a fun and different way. And you can tell that people commenting on YouTube know nothing about cultural appropriation. Me and my Indian friends loved this video. Hundreds of Indians loved this video. And yet, people are accusing them of cultural appropriation when the truth is, the video shows Mumbai in a fantastic way, portraying the vigor and life of Indian cities without stereotypes. It was a video about Holi, and all the elements were there: temples, colors, fireworks, mythical plays, oil lamps.

This is not cultural appropriation. This is not wearing a bindi cuz “it’s cool”. This is Beyonce wearing Indian-inspired fashion designed by an Indian designer in a video where she is herself in a movie called Rani (Queen). This is wonderful! It shows my country in a beautiful light, it shows Western singers and actresses actually respecting my culture, my fashion, my festivals, and being a part of it with assistance from Indian people themselves. This did not whitewash locals, or stereotype them into Mumbai slums. This portrayed all the brilliant and beautiful things that you see during times of festivities around India. Please, please stop acting as if you think it offends us when it doesn’t. And if it does offend some people, I’m extremely sorry. You must have your own valid reasons, but in this case I believe it’s a personal thing. However, please don’t speak “for the majority of Indians” because so many of us do like it and believe it’s a celebration of authentic Indian culture during Holi. Stop trying to force social justice on everything, especially when for a change India is represented in an authentic and non-Hollywood manner when it’s never portrayed well. I understand that she is not a part of my culture, but I believe in this case, it’s more appreciation than appropriation.